Tom Mitchell says countries that need to prepare for possible disasters are getting less than $2 million each in international aid to do so.

“Look, if you’re serious in ending extreme poverty - and that you’re serious in protecting your economic growth - then disaster risk management needs to be at the heart of your policies - needs to be at the heart of your economic growth policies - and needs to be a part of your social development and poverty reduction policies.”

The ODI report adds that disaster risk management should “focus on livelihoods as well as lives.” And the report estimates that less than one percent of official development aid is currently spent on reducing the risk of disaster.

I’m Jim Tedder.

And I’m Mario Ritter. That is As It Is for today. We welcome your comment on this program. Or go to our website, learningenglish.voanews.com, and click on “Contact Us.”